The Army's new approach to air and missile defense is a four-pronged effort with the future in mind, the commander of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command confirmed.
Lt. Gen. James Dickinson spoke with Defense News this week as the Army unveiled its updated strategy, the first time since 2012 the service has put together a new effort. A brief update was issued in 2015.
"A lot has changed in the past four years of importance," Dickinson said. "The operating environment has changed. We have an environment that is characterized by increasingly complex threat, increased operational tempo and great power competition.
"This document, it really charts the course for future air and missile defense forces. Air and missile defense have a tremendous deterrence factor, too . . . so that is really kind of what has stimulated us to draft a new road map for an Army air and missile defense enterprise."
The strategy's four main areas, according to Defense News, are "develop the right material solutions for AMD, build the right force structure to fight in multi-domain operations, provide ready and trained AMD forces, and build capacity to maintain forward presence with allies and partners."
Earlier this week, the Air Force conducted a successful test involving two interceptor missiles that destroyed an incoming target missile.
The interceptors were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The target missile was launched from the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands.
"The system worked exactly as it was designed to do," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel A. Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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